The Road to Galactic Liberation
Wow, what a great use of the Star Wars canon to investigate the age-old process of the accumulation of state power. I thought it would also be worth discussing how empires lose power and decline with some other parallels that were touched on. As Dan Sanchez mentioned, in order to gain or hold onto power the state will provoke conflict and refuse dialog and negotiation when necessary. In Star Wars we know that the plans to the first death star were deliberately given to the rebels in order to get them to come out of hiding. In a wild twist of fate, this plan backfires on the Empire with severe consequences. Similarly, during the stagnating reign of the communist regime over the Czech people, instigators were planted during a massive public demonstration to deliberately get the protesters to march on the parliament building where they would then be forcefully beaten back by paramilitary police who anticipated their coming. This plan also backfired spectacularly and only served to embolden the freedom fighters. It is a fact of all empires that they are complex and require a lot of monitoring, resources, and upkeep. The fear of losing control of a situation often leads to an overreaction and thus empires unintentionally sow the seeds of their own decline by an arrogant perception of their own strength. In my limited understanding, I feel there are few other key tools that lesson state power.
The first that stands out to me is communication because as stated earlier, the state is weakened if simple dialog and negotiation resolves conflict without the need for warfare. It’s also true that in any conflict the force with the fastest and most secure communication gets a significant tactical advantage. Due to the vast and bureaucratic nature of the Galactic Empire it is constantly susceptible to direct and indirect information leakage. This asymmetry allows the rebels to respond with more creative attacks and maintain their various defensive positions.
Secondly, a society that emphasizes the values of diversity, plurality, and multiculturalism is also a grave threat to state power. The demographic make up of the planet Coruscant, the galactic seat of power, is 50% human since it’s supposedly the original human home-world. But, the entire military and political leadership of the empire as a whole skews unfairly towards humans. In a similar vein, storm trooper forces are overwhelmingly human (first 100% with the clones, and then later to a lesser degree with conscripts and volunteers). This policy of deliberate discrimination is useful to the empire to ensure loyalty, provoke xenophobia and instill ideas of superiority. The rebel forces, while also primarily human in make up, have many more non-human personnel in positions of high leadership.
Finally, the state requires the constant collection of taxes and creation of propaganda towards ideological dominance to exist. This means it is in perpetual conflict with smugglers, artists, powerful economic factions, and even the run of the mill co-operative that tries to build more community-based resiliency. Since any rebellion requires the majority of a population’s participation to be successful, the state uses a variety of tactics to disrupt both unsanctioned mutual aid and the rights of a community to provide for its own defense and security. Any provision of mutual aid and security outside of official channels lessons state power, as well as any art that shines light on dogmatic ideology and breaks it apart.
In closing, it’s my opinion that the tragic and unsung heroes of Star Wars Episode Six were certainly the Ewoks. Their resilient and communal society had no dependence on the Empire’s galactic trade. At the time of their unwanted involvement in the galactic civil war, the Ewok’s had a rich history of arts and culture and all of their material needs were provided by their wise ecological management of Endor, their Redwood forested moon. However, with their sovereignty being threatened by the placement of the second Death Star’s shield generator, the Ewoks bravely side with the rebels waging a brilliant guerrilla war that would have made Ho Chi Minh proud. Unfortunately, their outstanding victory comes at a great sacrifice and perhaps even existential risk (See: Endor Holocaust debate). So the next time that you ponder what a rebellious faction of state subverting dreadlocked anarchists looks like think furry, think cute.
